Christina Spicer  |  April 7, 2021

Category: Food

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Canadian ranchers and dairy farmers see a trial date in class action over BSE outbreak

A class action lawsuit lodged by Canadian ranchers and dairy farmers who say they lost billions when the federal government failed to protect the Canadian cattle industry from a UK disease is reportedly going to trial after a decades-long wait.  

The plaintiff, Larry Sears of Flying E Ranch, says that the industry was decimated when cattle feed infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) were imported from the UK and Ireland. Though the federal government banned the import of cattle from known BSE-infected areas, the class action claimed that it was negligent in allowing BSE-infected cattle feed into Canadian stock.  

BSEalso known as scrapie, is a fatal nervous system infection in cattle. Though it cannot be transmitted to humans, there are human health risks associated with BSE, says Inspection Canada.  

The discovery of a BSE-infected cow in 2003 resulted in a two-year-long Canadian cattle ban in America. The class action lawsuit alleges that more than 120,000 Candian ranchers and dairy farmers suffered immense losses during the ban.  

“People’s life work was lost,” a lawyer representing the class action plaintiff told Alberta Farm Express. “It was an economic disaster. It was preventable and foreseen by the government that these things would happen. And it did not take the right step, in our view, to have prevented this.” 

The class action, filed nearly two decades ago, claims that the federal government failed to keep BSE, from the feed chain, despite being aware of the risk. The class action points out that, while the federal government banned the import of animals from countries with BSE, it only implemented measures to monitor the feed supply. 

The only way to diagnose BSE, says Alberta Farm Express, is to dissect the brain of a dead animal. The class action says that the monitoring of feed was not enough and, as a result, BSE made its way into Canadian cattle, resulting in the American ban.  

“It was estimated that the losses were between $7 billion and $8 billion,” the plaintiff’s lawyer told Alberta Farm Express. “The government did provide some assistance to the farmers. When you take that into account, the losses are between $3 billion and $5 billion.” 

The plaintiff’s lawyer also told reporters that he did not expect a judgment this year after the June trial; however, he was encouraged to see some movement in the case. 

Are you a Canadian rancher or dairy farmer affected by the American cattle ban? Do you think the federal government should be held responsible? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.  

The plaintiffs are represented by Duncan Boswell of WLG Gowling. 

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